Jubilee Day Centre gets Argentine tango display

Mandy Le Bachelet and Richard Fyfe were crowned this year’s victors and the £1,000 prize money the winning pair secured will go to the Guernsey Voluntary Service, which Mrs Le Bachelet manages.

They were one of 12 pairs taking part in the charity competition, and after making it to the final three, Romanian dance champion Dragos selected them as the victors for the way they ‘captured the spirit and the essence of the tango’.

The duo then performed their winning dance twice at the Jubilee Day Centre on Monday afternoon in front of a packed-out room of GVS clients.

‘It was an absolutely fantastic experience, I had never done the tango before and I have not danced much in the last 30 years or so,’ said Mrs Le Bachelet said.

‘I did three months’ worth of training to get ready for it and then we did three performances over the course of the event.

‘We are also able to invite a lot of the clients from the day centre to come along and be audience members, which was really nice.’

Mrs Le Bachelet’s partner, Elizabeth College Junior School head Richard Fyfe, won the Strictement charity dance competition in 2016 and was the ‘dance pro’ of the pair for this year’s event after being persuaded to take part by the Mrs Le Bachelet.

‘There were about 200 people in the audience in the evenings and 150 at lunchtime so the support was great,’ said Mr Fyfe.

Other organisations being represented at the event included Male Uprising Guernsey, the GSPCA and the Youth Commission, and the number of donations received as well as sponsorship money means that each of the 12 charities will have raised a minimum of £500.

‘I think its excellent that all of the charities involved will be receiving such a large sum,’ said Mr Fyfe.

Event organiser, the Guernsey Retro Festival, has already started the search for contestants ahead of the 2023 edition of Guernsey You Can Dance, as they ‘aim to make the competition even bigger and better’.